1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal equipped with temperature compensation function for use in bio-information measurement.
2. Description of Related Art
A biosensor is device for the detection of an analyte that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector component.
The biosensor is a biochemical sensor that selectively detects and measures chemical substances contained in samples and, in particular, detects organic compounds, such as specific constituents of enzymes or antibodies or microbes, which are sensitive to specific matters. The biochemical sensor is utilized to detect and measure organic compounds that are difficult to detect by means of non-biochemical sensors that have been used until now.
A first sensing mechanism of the biosensor is as follows.
The biosensor detects organisms, such as specific constituents of enzymes or antibodies or microbes, by means of a sensing element and converts the amount (or concentration) of chemical substances detected by the sensing element into voltage or current values by means of transducers and electrodes.
In addition, the biosensor may be classified into an enzyme sensor, a microbial sensor, and an immunity sensor. The enzyme sensor and microbial sensor are currently put to use. The most widespread example of a commercial biosensor is the enzyme sensor, which uses singularities of enzyme proteins acting only on specific substrate molecules or responses.
Examples of the enzyme sensor developed or currently utilized include a glucose sensor for detecting blood glucose for patients suffering from diabetes, a urea sensor used as a blood urea concentration sensor for hemodialysis control of a bioartificial kidney, and a uric acid sensor used as a blood uric acid concentration sensor for patients suffering from gout. In addition, there has been developed a multifunctional enzyme sensor detecting the concentrations of two or more chemical substances at the same time. An example of the multifunctional enzyme sensor is a freshness sensor that determines the freshness of fish or meat by measuring the concentrations of three or more chemical substances at the same time.
The microbial sensor is used in process management of fermentation industries such as alcohol fermentation and glutamic acid fermentation, or in measurement of BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) that is an index of water pollution. In addition, even though lower in sensitivity than the microbial sensor, a biosensor using a large organism such as fish has been studied.
The immunity sensor using antibodies as a sensing element is used in disease diagnosis. For instance, recently there has been developed an immunity sensor equipped with an antibody corresponding to a marker peculiar to cancer as a sensing element. The immunity sensor may be used in early detection of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
Recently there has been developed a small-sized semiconductor biosensor equipped with a thin-film shaped enzyme on a small semiconductor chip. If the semiconductor biosensor is put to practical use, it can be inserted to organisms to directly measure the constituent parts of blood and other components, and the simultaneous measurement of a plurality of chemical substances can be carried out more easily and quickly.
A sensing mechanism of the biosensor is as follows.
The biosensor irradiates a predetermined range of wavelength on a target object by spectroscopic method, analyzes a reflected wavelength, and compares it with a predetermined data table. Different ranges of wavelengths are used depending on the types of target object.
When organism information is measured with the biosensor, blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, and hepatic metabolite levels are greatly affected by temperatures. Accordingly, the temperature needs to be compensated for accurate measurements.
Blood glucose measurement based on the above-mentioned first mechanism has the following features.
Since blood glucose levels of patients suffering from glucosuria keep changing due to excessive exercise, food and drink, and complications, they need to keep monitoring the blood glucose levels. There are various kinds of blood glucose monitors, such as medical devices for monitoring blood glucose levels, and mobile phones equipped with blood glucose monitors.
FIG. 1 is a mobile communication terminal equipped with a conventional blood glucose monitor.
A biosensor 1 applied with enzyme responding to blood glucose is inserted into a biosensor insertion 5 of a battery pack 2 in a mobile communication terminal 10 equipped with a blood glucose monitor. The mobile communication terminal 10 measures blood glucose levels by means of a main body 8 and displays the levels on a display unit 9.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2003-96652 discloses a mobile communication terminal equipped with a conventional blood glucose monitor. According to the publication, after inserting a strip sensor applied with enzyme reacting with glucose into a mobile communication terminal, blood is injected into the strip sensor. Alternatively, after injecting blood into the strip sensor applied with the enzyme reacting with glucose, the strip sensor is inserted into the mobile communication terminal. The glucose and enzyme react with each other on the strip sensor, creating electrons. The electrons are detected by a current sensor. The current sensor detects current flowing through two terminals, and converts the current into digital signals so as to be appropriate for an input terminal of a mobile station modem (MSM). When the digital signals are input to the MSM, the digital signals are processed based on data (relationship of current/voltage based on reagent codes) stored in a memory unit, and are displayed as blood glucose levels on a liquid crystal display (LCD) device.
However, since the reaction between the glucose and the enzyme in the mobile communication terminal is sensitive to temperatures, there are the following problems:
First, it is not possible to measure blood glucose levels since the mobile communication terminal cannot keep its temperature constant due to heat generated from the mobile communication terminal itself.
Secondly, it is not possible to measure blood glucose levels since the reaction temperature between the glucose and enzyme cannot be detected.